


those small moments

by sleeperservice



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Fluff, Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 10:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14400459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeperservice/pseuds/sleeperservice
Summary: Mikael pages through the old photo album. Mikko hadn't seen some of these pictures in years, but he brought the album to the cottage at Mikael's insistence. He wanted to see what Mikko looked like back in the day without dealing with the parental chirping, Mikko supposes."You seem to have had a lot of Canadiens shirts," Mikael says.





	those small moments

Mikael pages through the old photo album. Mikko hadn't seen some of these pictures in years, but he brought the album to the cottage at Mikael's insistence. He wanted to see what Mikko looked like back in the day without dealing with the parental chirping, Mikko supposes.

"You seem to have had a lot of Canadiens shirts," Mikael says.

"I did. Saku had so much stuff. I know he bought some for me, kid stuff, but you know how much stray team gear we end up with by the end of the season. If he had shown up for the draft, it would have been worse."

"He didn't show up?"

"No, nobody thought it was that important back then. Everyone told him he had better things to do than go and sit and wait until the second round. Everyone was surprised, I guess. I was ten; I can't remember much of the adult talk. I also had better things to do."

"I was sixteen months old, you know. I probably didn't even know what ice was. I never looked up the bits of the draft history that far back. By the time I was old enough to care, I guess, I...." Mikael bites his lip.

"Was more interested in me than my big brother?"

Mikael blushes. "Yes." He points at another picture. "You're drowning in this shirt here."

"It's another one of his postseason discards. You know how small he is; you've played against him."

"Not small! The correct size."

"Yes, he is. And so are you." Mikko ruffles Mikael's hair. "Anyway, the shirt shouldn't have been so big, but. I was smaller yet."

Mikael shakes his head in disbelief. "How old were you?"

"I think that was the summer of '96, so thirteen."

"You were so so so so tiny."

"Oh, I know! I despaired of ever getting to be taller than my mother, much less as tall as my brother. Being taller than 150 centimeters seemed like an accomplishment! Finally! I wanted to be like Saku so much. I was just hoping I'd ever be as tall as he was, and here I am, drowning in his old T-shirt, so much that I could only wear it in bed."

"You love him very much. I love my brother, but we're so similar in age, it's like having a twin of sorts, you know?"

"I know. I'm surprised he didn't follow us here." Mikko laughs, but he knows how close Mikael and Markus are.

"He knows what we're here for." Mikael blushes again, even more furiously than before.

"Ah. Well, back to the picture, it's true. I admired my brother like no one else. Except for maybe Jere Lehtinen, but...that may have also been a crush. You know how it is. I dreamed I'd be as good as my brother some day, play in the World Championship, play in the Olympics. I just needed to grow taller than 160 centimeters...."

"You have overshot that quite a bit." Mikael looks up and meets Mikko's gaze. He's admiring him, again, Mikko assumes.

"It took a while. Three more years and I was much, much taller than Saku. I couldn't wear his shirts as pajamas any longer. I actually didn't want to wear his shirts outside the house any longer."

"Why?"

"I was proud of him, but everyone wanted me to be him by that point. As a player. I wanted to be myself. As an adult, now, I know that we're a lot alike as people, and that's the way that should count. I still want to live up to that example."

"I...I think I wanted to have you as an example. Want."

"You can try harder for role models! You don't need one anymore. Not as a player, at least."

"I'll always need you. And you're still the best example."

Mikko shakes his head. "You need to find someone else who can score, then!"

"Ha, Mikko, we score evenly now, in some ways." Mikael winks, and kisses him.

  


That night, Mikko isn't surprised to find Mikael waiting for him in the bedroom wearing an old Wild shirt of Mikko's with the number 9 on the front...and nothing else. He takes it off him, very quickly.

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for this prompt: https://thesinbin.dreamwidth.org/1580.html?thread=2258732#cmt2258732 re a player wearing pajamas for a team he was a fan of as a child. There are a few pictures of a tween Mikko Koivu that keep getting posted to Tumblr, ones where he's wearing a Habs shirt, and I just assumed that he had more shirts.


End file.
